perturb
per-turb / pər-tûrb
verb 1. to trouble or disturb; to make anxious or agitated A woman is perturbed by what a man forgets---a man by what a woman remembers. Arch Ward, 1896 – 1955 2. to throw into a state of chaos or confusion; to disorder; to cause a disturbance in the normal motion, cycle, etc. The fact that we have been able to perturb the carbon cycle with our industrial revolution is evidence of how vulnerable we are - because when we destroy our environments, we destroy our food and energy supplies. Annalee Newitz, 1969 - 3. in astronomy and physics, to cause a disturbance in the typical motion (orbit) of a planet, comet, etc. Once you get more than one planet, the planets perturb each other gravitationally. Frederic A. Rasio, 1964 –